Human 76 – FREE eBook introductory offer

Human 76, the new linked-tale anthology that I’ve been trumpeting, will be available in a matter of days. Any and all profits from sales of the book will go to the charity Water Is Life, who provide clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education programs to schools and villages in desperate need worldwide. The charity fits well the main theme of the anthology: helping those displaced or struggling to survive in a harsh world. WiL is a global charity, reflecting the fact that our authors are scattered all around this small blue planet.

Let me tell you a little about the remarkable evolution that took place around Lisa Shambrook’s simple premise of a girl searching for her lost sister. At first, most of our authors simply got on with their own stories, but then slowly, almost organically, a new level of writing began to emerge.

As we chatted – in the Human 76 Facebook group, on Twitter, or by email – we began to pick up ideas from each other. We read and commented on each other’s stories as they appeared in draft. We became inspired by our peers, and edited our own work so as to include cool stuff invented by fellow Seventy-Sixers.

Eventually some of our tales intertwined like lovers (Glint and Behind These Walls), while others made amusing references. One story (Sand) was entirely inspired by another (The Oasis). This process of cross-fertilisation led to Ghabrie’s world becoming very real to all of us. Of particular pleasure was the way that characters other than our sibling protagonists took on a life of their own. KJ Collard’s David, at first a simple (though vital) walk-on part in her Sheshwahtay, now has a complex, moving story arc of his own. MS Manz’s Leader causes ripples that even he would find difficult to predict. And Jeff Hollar’s Hieronymous Planck eventually … but let me not spoil the fun. You’ll have to find out about him by reading the book.

So please bear in mind that, yes, Human 76 is a collection of tales, but it is also more than that. It is a single book-length story. The saga of Ghabrie, the girl and the myth, and her determination to make her own future in a fractured world.

As an introductory offer, the eBook version of Human 76 will be available FREE for a short period of two weeks. Release day is only a few days away now. Watch this blog for more news as it happens.